Famous, Rich And Homeless. Here’s to hotel hero Willie Thorne

Time to read
1 minute
Read so far

Famous, Rich And Homeless. Here’s to hotel hero Willie Thorne

March 20, 2016 - 10:59
Posted in:
0 reader reviews
No votes yet
Rate this programme

The selfless stars who pat each other on the back for generously donating their time to BBC charidee fundraisers traditionally refer to each other as “heroes”.

Hotel hero Willie Thorne

The selfless stars who pat each other on the back for generously donating their time to BBC charidee fundraisers traditionally refer to each other as “heroes”.

Gotta love those luvvies for setting the bar so low for heroism. But if it makes them happy, what the hell.

However, we’re going to have to extract one minor celebrity from the equation. Step forward former snooker champion Willie Thorne, whose contribution to Sport Relief special Famous, Rich And Homeless was nothing short of pathetic.

Set the task of spending a week on the streets of London, whining Willie demanded two nights in a luxury hotel.

“I don’t want to quit,” he insisted as he relaxed in the comfort of his four-star room.  “I’ve come close to quitting.” No Willie, you have quit.

“Homelessness is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. It nearly broke me. In fact it did break me.” Yeah, sloppy room service grinds you down.

But if Willie emerged from the worthy exercise as a wimp, TV’s Mrs Mop Kim Woodburn was just plain horrible.

“I came across an 18 year-old girl and she’s just a lazy little bum,” she snarled. “I don’t mince words. I haven’t got a second of my life for bullshit. I’m sorry, she’s a bum.” This from a mad-eyed cleaning lady who thinks scrubbing toilets is entertaining.

Actually, the very presence of Z-listers like Thorne and Woodburn provided clear evidence that a lot of proper famous people said no to this two-part series.

Obviously, it’s no bad thing to highlight the plight of the homeless. But the stars of the show weren’t really alone. They were accompanied at all times by a film crew.

When a furious resident kicked James and Rodney out of the stairwell he was much more deferential to their companion Nick Hancock.

In the middle of a foul mouthed tirade he suddenly stopped and said: “Sorry Nick.” Which summed up the fatal flaw in the format. Much of the drama is clearly staged for the cameras.

As his ordeal reached its conclusion, humbled Hancock turned to James and vowed: “I’ll never forget you.” Sadly, he appeared to have already forgotten Rodney, who was nowhere to be seen.